Call for development plans to have bigger social issues focus

Delegates at a forum in Toowoomba today will be told regional planning schemes do not do enough to address the social challenges facing local communities.

Community and business leaders and academics will hold talks on the draft Darling Downs plan and the future of the region at a forum at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).

USQ's professor Michael Cuthill says authorities cannot regulate the economic development of a region without also considering the social impacts.

"Recent research by the OECD finds that the best examples of successful regional development are when the infrastructure and economics are balanced out against what's called the soft infrastructure - the individual and community needs and aspirations," he said.

Professor Cuthill says current plans only look at the economic opportunities facing a community.

"I mean we've got a lot of tensions and conflicts and impacts that are becoming increasingly evident in those communities and we're looking at things like there's a lack of social cohesion because new communities are coming in and old communities are not integrating," he said.